Rolf Stommelen: early career
Rolf Stommelen ( born in 1943) was one of Germany’s leading racing drivers for over a decade. His father had an VW-Porsche garage in Köln in which Rolf started making money to pursue his ream: racing. By 1964, Rolf drove Porsche’s latest racer, the 904 GTS, bought by his father. Over the next three seasons his success in airfield races and hill climbs earned him a seat in a works Porsche 906/6 for the 24 hours Le Mans in 1966. He already participated in the 24hours race the previous year with a Porsche 904/4 with Christian Poirot ( a DNF). In 1966 with Gunther Klass, he finished 7th and first of the group S cars. For the 1967 24 hour race, Stommelen was teamed up with Jochen Neerpasch in the works Porsche 906/10. After a rather bad qualifying ( P29), they gradually moved up through the field to end in a 6th position. Earlier that year he had a DNF at Monza but a win in the Targa Florio (with Paul Hawkins, Porsche 910).
His endurance racing career moved on with the factory Porsche team Porsche 907 in 1968. A P02 in Monza ( with Neerpash) and at the Nürburgring ( with H.Hermann), a P18 in the Targa Florio ( with Jo Siffert) and a P03 in Spa. His drive through the rain to third place in a particular dark Le Mans in september 1968 confirmed his qualities. His team-mate for that weekend was again Jochen Neerpash. Alternator problems meant the Porsche drivers were instructed to drive on side lights only and without the benefit of windscreen wipers in a wet race!
The next year, there was a podium finish in the 12h of Sebring, in the Targa Florio, in the 1000 km Nurburgring and a pole-position for the 24 h Le Mans race in the brand new Porsche 917. Next to his endurance activities, he raced a single-seater for the very first time in the 1969 German Grand Prix with a Roy Winkelmann Racing F2 Lotus 59B-Cosworth.
Combining Formula 1 and endurance racing
For 1970 Stommelen put his mind on F1 with sponsorship from Auto Motor und Sport magazine and driving a works Brabham BT33-Ford. He got into the points on five occasions with a fine P03 in Austria after starting from17th on the grid. With the sponsorship from Eifelland Wohnwagenbau he raced also in the F2 championship with a March 702 and a Brabham BT30. In between he raced the official Alfa Romeo T33/3 in the Sportscar World Championship with a disqualification in Le Mans for a push start ( team mate Nanni Galli).
Another busy year in 1971 with a Surtees TS9 for the World Championship with a P05 in England and a P06 in Monaco. He entered 3 Formula 2 races with a Brabham BT36 again for Team Eifelland Caravans without any success. His endurance racing performance with the Autodelta Alfa were better: a P03 in Buenos Aires, a P02 in the 12h of Sebring, P04 in Monza and a P03 in Zeltweg.
No worthwhile results were forthcoming when Stommelen raced for the Eifelland team in 1972. Its rebodied March 721, the strange looking Eifelland 21 wasn’t a competitive proposition even when the team started to abandon the avant-garde aerodynamics. His sportscar results with the Alfa Romeo 33/TT/3 were better with a P03 at the 1000km Brands Hatch ( with Peter Revson), a P11 at the Nürburgring and a DNF in Le Mans. With H.Heyer and J.Fitzpatrick, he won the European 6 hours of the Nürburgring in a BMW2008CS -Schnitzer. For 1973, Stommelen became the stand-in driver at Brabham for the final 4 F1 races and Graham Hill Embassy Racing turned to him after Guy Edwards broke his wrist in a Formula 5000 car. What might have been Stommelen’s big brake in F1 turned sour when he suffered serious injuries (two broken legs) at the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix at Montjuich when the rear wing of his GH1 came lose. The accident also claimed the lives of 5 spectators. He recovered in time to compete in the last 2 F1 races after which the team had to close in the wake of the aircraft accident claiming the lives of Graham Hill, Tony Brise and four key team members.
Rolf Stommelen remains a successful sports car driver
Stommelen joined Martini Racing Porsche’s sports car team for 1976 driving the Porsche 935. Further F1 opportunities were limited to occasional drives for Brabham ( a P06 in Germany) and Hesketh. Rolf won the 6h of Watkins Glen (with Manfred Schurti), the 4 hours of Enna Pergusa ( with Jochen Mass) and a group V victory and a P04 in the 24 hours of Le Mans.
In 1977 he became the German Champion Group 5 champion with 5 victories and he won the 6 h Mugello with Porsche 935/77 ( with M.Schurti) and the 1000 km Nurburgring with T.Hezemans and T.Schenken.
Success continued in 1978 wth a victory in the 24 hours of Daytona with team mate T.Hezemans and P. Gregg with a Porsche 935/77A and a second place in the 6 hours Watkins Glenn for the Dick Barbour Racing. He also drove the Porsche factory Porsche 935 "Moby Dick" in Martini colors in Le Mans. Stommelen was, with 365 km/h the fastest man on the Mulsanne Straight. In between he drove for the Arrows F1 team without any significant result because team boss Jackie Oliver was only interested in his sponsor money. In 1979 he was again a driver for Dick Barbour Racing in the IMSA series and winner of the IMSA category and a second place in the Le Mans 24 hours with team mate Paul Newman. He participated also in the DRM and the World Endurance series with the Joest Porsche 935J.
For Rolf Stommelen, 1980 would again be a busy year as a Joest team driver. Again a victory in the Daytona 24 hours race (Porsche 935) and DRM activities for the team in the Liqui Moly Porsche 935J.But still no luck in Le Mans with a DNF for the Kremer 935K3 number 42. Victory again in a Porsche 908/4 in the 1000 km Nürburgring with J.Barth. He drove for the Andial Meister Racing in the IMSA championship in 1981 with a P02 in the 12h of Sebring,a P03 in Lime Rock and a victory in the 6h of Mosport and the 500 miles Road America ( both with H.Grohs, Porsche 935 M16).
A third victory in the Daytona 24h with John Paul jr and sr in a Porsche 935JLP at the start of 1982. With the Joest team he participated in the DRM championship with a Porsche 936 to become the runner up in the final standing.
His longtime friend John Fitzpatrick brought him in to drive his low downforce Joest built “Moby Dick”935 at Riverside together with Derek Bell in April 1983. In the race, Rolf Stommelen would die of a heart attack after the massive head trauma on the way to the hospital after a 190mph shunt during his second stint. A rear wing failure, that was not fixed properly at the last pitstop, was the probable cause of the accident. He will be remembered as a bloody fast driver.
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